I remember having a discussion with Chris Moeller ages ago about how I thought BMX shouldn’t be part of the cycling world. This was back in the mid 90’s and BMX programs had been all but killed off by the big cycling brands. The few who made “BMX” bikes really only made unsafe-for-BMX kid’s bikes. The tiny core BMX scene banded together to support “rider owned” brands that were making equipment that allowed what I loved to grow. It felt like we were better off without the outside world involved. I told Chris I thought BMX should just unplug from the whole spandex clad cycling industry entirely since it seemed to my angsty young mind that they could never understand BMX. Chris calmly offered up the idea that BMX would always have to be part of cycling industry since so much of a “bike” comes from that world. Pedals and chains and tires and wheels were always going to be part of cycling and no amount of garage made steel frames would change that. 

Rolling into the UCI headquarters on my adult bike with gears for a BMX Freestyle event I couldn’t help but think how far BMX had come. From the days when bike shops didn’t want “those BMX kids” to even come into their shops to seeing BMX riders and their coaches mingling with velodrome track racers at the “world headquarters of cycling”. Not to mention affordable pro-level BMX bikes on most bike shop floors. I’m not sure the cycling world will ever properly understand BMX but there’s no denying it is part of it. 

I’ve run into a lot more BMX on this trip than I expected. Seeing old BMX friends in Hastings and London still working to make things better, a grass root event in Amsterdam, the inspiring creative chaos of Battle of Hastings, the man behind the long running FatBMX, my little moment of honor at the NORA Cup, visiting the BMX museum that is Pure BMX and now at the UCI for a “C-level” event or whatever it was. It is cool for me to see BMX growing and moving like it always has and always will. 

It’s hard for me not to have an opinion on the UCI’s version of BMX that seems determined to turn BMX into a sport. I wrestled with that through my riding career and would occasionally slip up and call BMX a sport myself. Many years retired I now think of BMX as something more like music than sport. And the idea of having a clearly defined winner in music seems silly to me. However, as evidenced by the lack of breakfast tacos in France, too many cars on the road, and not enough puppies the world doesn’t seem to always listen to what I think is best for it. I will say that some of my life-long friends who are life-long BMXers are there behind the scenes at those events looking after BMX as best they can. And, speaking to some of the athletes (who are undeniably athletes) they seem motivated and inspired to push this style of BMX as far as they can. That seems good to me. 

On a less old-man-on-a-soap-box note I got to meet Dan Roberts from Pinkbike and his buddy Basil. They brought a couple pump track bikes out to the UCI and I got to take a couple laps on my first VeloSolutions track. I was way more interested in talking to Dan then shaking off two months of bike touring to figure out the lines but they were everywhere. If I had a month on that course there would still be more to figure out. Ryan Nyquist dropped in a did a couple laps with us too. He’s still loving his times on bikes that is clear. I did some goofy illustrations for a couple of Dan’s stories a while back and Basil let me sit on his RAAW downhill bike which frightened me thinking how fast it would go down a hill (I’ve never ridden a proper downhill bike having spent my 2.5 months at Whistler on a hardtail). 

I also caught up with old friend Haimona Ngata from New Zealand and got some insight on where I might go if I visit there for the winter. Good to see that old fellow still in the BMX mix. Nina was there too working behind the scenes and strung together a good run in the contest too. A bunch of other friends were around even though the event was small. I pedaled out of the UCI down the Rhone River trail next to it, through some more epic scenery and back to my hotel. Michael Mangler McQueen and Jessica were at my hotel entirely by chance and we shared a hot chocolate fueled breakfast. They’re over from North Carolina to do some mountain biking in the big mountains around here. 

Bike friends, bikes and more bikes. It might take more time to pedal somewhere than riding in a car, but bikes make the world smaller.